There's a Bump in the Road
by dontforgettherobot
Summary: Carter Bays would define this as AU: I don't. A Barney/Robin pregnancy fic set in the right future. Short multichapter.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I had been working on this long before the finale aired, it's no secret I've always loved the idea of Barney and Robin as parents and I just wanted to try a pregnancy fic. Then the finale happened and it was horrible and traumatic and sometimes I feel like it's better that it was so absolutely _wrong _because you know, my brain can't really fully accept it as canon, and it's easier to pretend it just didn't happen. Because it didn't - none of it happened either in my mind or in this fic, which yes could be AU but then again, maybe it isn't. That said, I have made some adjustments after the way they handled things in the finale, you know, little things that prove how absolutely insane and out of character everything was. I'm publishing this as a short multichapter even if it was originally intended as a moderately long oneshot, because its structure and its pace kind of didn't feel homogeneous enough to be read all at once. I hope you like it!**

* * *

"You're pregnant."

Robin sits in the doctor's office, facing the woman who's giving her the news. This enormous, ridiculous piece of news which can't possibly be true.

"I'm sorry, what?" Her smile is tense as she nervously fidgets with her fingers. "I'm what?"

"You're pregnant, Mrs Stinson," the doctor repeats with a smile. "Congratulations."

"No, I'm not." She lets out a small chuckle, uneasy. "There must be a mistake."

Yes. A mistake. Of course there's a mistake. They must've switched her test results or something, because there is no way she is carrying a child. She barely registers the doctor explaining how birth control isn't always effective and she feels sixteen again, almost embarrassed as she refrains from answering that she and Barney haven't used birth control in years. "What's the point?" She had told him the night of their engagement, more out of lust than anything else, and Barney had thrown his unopened condom away with a grin.

But she can't have kids, she almost accuses the doctor, who retorts that well, apparently she can.

"We'll run more tests to check in on your condition and how the baby's doing, and we'll probably have more answers then. Is Thursday okay?"

She feels like a robot as she leaves the doctor's office and takes the elevator, the cold December air hitting her face as soon as she exits the building. She wraps her coat more tightly around her and hails a cab, promptly telling the driver to take her to MacLaren's.

The city streets are as busy as ever, the Christmas lights glistening everywhere around her. The cab gets stuck in traffic, and Robin looks out the window, glances at people walking down the sidewalk, senses their happiness as they carry their bags full of presents. A kid falls on the ground while toddling in the snow, his legs too short to walk properly. His father picks him up, brushes the snow off his hands and plants a kiss on the crying kid, who just snuggles against his father's neck. "There's a baby growing inside of me," it's all she can think of as she watches the pair walk away and turns back to face the car lights in front of her. It suddenly takes over all of her brain, there's a baby inside of her and she has absolutely no idea how to handle it.

"MacLaren's Pub," the driver announces, abruptly stopping in front of the familiar place.

The air is sticky and the smell of alcohol and food seems stronger than usual, but the place is not crowded and she even finds a spot at their usual booth. No one else is there, and she absent-mindedly orders a scotch. She spits the liquor out as soon as the first sip touches her tongue.

"Fuck," she whispers, angrily putting the useless drink back on the table. Her phone beeps with the sound of a new text message, Barney's home.

She leaves the money on the table and heads for their apartment.

* * *

It comes out as soon as she steps through the door, after Barney greets her with a soft "hey" and a kiss. His hair is damp from a recent shower and he smells of her favorite soap, it's coconut and ginger and it's so strong it bothers her a little, and the feeling is so new – so unexpected – she realizes that it's true, that it's really happening.

"I'm pregnant," she blurts out, her scared eyes wide open as she stares at him. They haven't talked about this in years – their family had always felt right just as it was – and she doesn't know what reaction to expect. She feels her heart pounding in her chest, anxiety starts building up in her head, and she watches as Barney's eyes grow wide and he staggers a little, his hands stopping on her arms.

"You're pregnant?" he almost hesitates to ask her, and there's something in his voice, it's awe and it's hope and she realizes she always knew – he wants this. And it's not like she wasn't enough – they always were, and she's got no doubts about that – but he wants this, with her, despite not needing it at all. She sees the biggest grin forming on his face as she starts nodding, and then his lips are on hers, so eager it almost sends her off balance.

She doesn't intend to, and maybe she's not even aware of it herself, but for the first time since that afternoon, she smiles against his lips.


	2. Chapter 2

It turns out this baby growing inside of her is, indeed, almost a miracle. Barney looks annoyingly smug as the doctor explains to them how the chances of her getting pregnant were as close to zero as they could possibly be, and she feels Barney biting the inside of his cheek as he tries to remain serious. She had a hard time at home trying to convince him jokes and remarks about his extraordinary sperm were kind of inappropriate in front of the doctor – what was he, fifteen? – and while he might have thought they were funny, they definitely were not. Barney had pouted a little and whined a few "why", but in the end, he surrendered.

She feels uncomfortable as the doctor tells her to relax for her first ultrasound, and she looks at Barney, who is impatiently tapping his foot and staring at the monitor, waiting for the image to appear. The last few days have been rough: she has done nothing but wrestle with doubts and questions – about her job, about her life, about this kid, about what this means for her – and she can't shake the fear that everything will eventually start crumbling away, because how could it not? She never wanted this life to begin with, and she always felt like her infertility was some kind of sick reward the universe had given to her. But now, suddenly now a child was counting on her body in order to survive – the same body she had thought was broken so many times before, the same body that, apparently, still wasn't completely fixed. She takes Barney's hand in hers, because she still feels as if she's been catapulted in somebody else's life, and she needs a firm grip on her own.

The doctor finally points to a small bean shape on the screen and turns the volume up for them to hear the sound of its heart. Robin realizes she's been holding her breath, and she finally exhales as she starts hearing the steady, fast heartbeat of their baby. Barney squeezes her hand and she notices he's trying to hold back tears, but she lets him have it.

* * *

The morning sickness starts to get bad. She's forced to call in sick at work for three days in a row, and when someone decides to bring sushi on set on the fourth day, she makes it out of the studio just in time before she throws up in the nearest trashcan. MacLaren's becomes off limits. She can no longer stand the smell of beer and fried stuff coming from the kitchen, and she would rather not have to kneel down in those filthy bathroom stalls. She feels like crying, and she doesn't know if that's because of the pregnancy hormones or because she already can't take it anymore. The fear of it being the latter eats her alive.

Barney tries to help, but the truth is he doesn't know how to handle it either. She can see him struggling to find the right thing to do every time she runs to the bathroom, but he later confesses to her how useless he feels. When Robin gets sick because he slipped some ginger in her salad, he can't seem to get over how guilty he feels.

"It was supposed to help," he apologizes, over and over, while holding out her hair. "I should never trust other people's blogs!"

"God, this is worse than a hangover," Robin mutters as a second wave of nausea hits her, her head buried in the toilet. At least being hungover meant you had had fun, she thought, and that generally made it worth it.

"I'm sorry," he says for the millionth time.

"Barney," she lifts her head up from the toilet bowl, washing her mouth. "This is the sixth time this happens today, and yesterday –", she closes her eyes, the embarrassing memory coming back to her, "yesterday, I threw up in a freaking cab on my way to work. It's not your fault," she tries to reassure him, and looks at him with sincere eyes.

Barney sighs, sitting on the floor next to her. "How are we going to do this?"

"I don't know," she says, wholeheartedly wishing she had an answer to give him. "But you just sat on a splash of vomit."

There's panic in his eyes as he jumps up, frantically trying to look at the back of his pants without actually succeeding. By the time he takes them off to assess the extent of the damage, Robin's amused smile has turned into a full belly laugh, and Barney realizes he hasn't heard her laugh in weeks. He suppresses a smile and stays committed to his act as he continues mourning his suit, neatly folding his pants and hugging them against his chest with a sad expression on his face.

"Come on," Robin says as she stands up, placing a comforting kiss on his cheek. "Let's go to bed. I'm exhausted."

She walks past him and his eyes follow her into the bedroom. "Goodbye boys," he whispers to his clothes. "That was for a good cause."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey everyone, thanks for reading! This chapter has a lighter tone to it, and definitely more dialogue. But since the next chapters will touch on some serious issues, I guess that's kind of good. Enjoy! :)**

* * *

Four months in, her favorite pants don't fit anymore. She throws them onto the bed where Barney's using his laptop, hitting him in the face.

"Hey!" He exclaims, grabbing the pants and looking up at Robin. His eyes light up as he takes in his half-naked wife. "Oooooh, are we playing strip-something?" he excitedly says as he starts unbuttoning his shirt.

"What? No. It's not a Tuesday, dummy."

Barney nods, slightly disappointed. He wishes every day could be a Strip Game Tuesday. "So why are you throwing your clothes at me? Not that I mind," he smirks.

"They just don't _fit_," she grumbles_._ "The stupid zip won't go up."

He looks at her, just standing there in her underwear, her little round belly sticking out. He reaches out to put his hand on it, stroking her skin with his thumb. "I'll get them fixed."

"Whatever," she sighs, resting her hand on his for a moment before turning around and heading for the closet. "I'll just keep getting bigger anyway. How's that for a manatee?" She asks him as she rests an old pair of sweatpants on her lower half.

He shakes his head lightly, a little confused. "A manat-?" then he remembers, and lets out a small chuckle. "Please. Everyone's a manatee now. For me, you're the only mermaid left."

She scrunches her nose in disgust. "Ugh, that's so cheesy Barney, stop it."

"Are you kidding? That's not cheesy, it's just the pure, unadulterated truth. Your body," she crosses her arms and watches in amusement as he tries to find the most ridiculous, cheesy words he can manage, "your body is like a temple to me. Plus, you know," he smirks, "your boobs are majestic."

"Majestic? Really? That's what you're going with?"

"Yeah," he looks at her chest and nods, delighted. "Just majestic."

It's true, though, her boobs really do look amazing. And she's not going to lie, the rest of her body looks mighty fine too. She shakes her head, trying to muffle a laugh. "You're an idiot, you know that, right?"

"Eh," he shrugs. "I try my best."

Her pants reappear neatly folded on their bed the next day, a maternity panel carefully sewn into them. She smiles as it slides perfectly over her growing bump.

* * *

The baby starts moving on a Saturday night, when they're all gathered at Marshall and Lily's for the first time in what seems like forever. Lily squees at the sight of her swelling baby bump and hugs her tight.

"Aw sweetie, you look amazing!"

"I know, right?" She smiles. "I guess I'm just lucky, I barely gained any weight at all. Well, except for my boobs, of course," she stops smiling when she notices Marshall urgently waving at her in the background and Lily's twitching eye.

"Don't," Lily admonishes her.

"Yeah, Robin, that's just mean," Tracy appears from the kitchen, smiling and quickly hugging both her and Barney. "But you do look great. And I can't wait to see Barney resume his identity as Diaper Man."

Lily's made dinner and Marshall's offering everyone cheese – even though they're all already eating dessert – and it feels like they've never stopped doing this, except maybe at some point they traded drinking games, sword fights and cigars for Marvin and Daisy running and screaming around the apartment and Ted trying to teach Penny how to say Dada.

"She said Mama two weeks ago!" He's exasperated as the baby tries to free herself from his arms. "_Two. Weeks! _And everyone knows how the letter "d" is easier to pronounce than the letter "m", I mean it's basic linguistics."

"I think you're just jealous," Barney says as he takes a mouthful of Lily's cake. "And you're boring her – and us – with your linguistic crap. Wanna see a magic trick?" He switches his attention to Penny. "Penny, say 'uncle Barney'."

"Barney, she's not going to sa-"

"_Uncle Barney_," he repeats, very slowly, making intense eye contact with the baby.

"Baba!" she giggles, and Barney grins at Ted, who's looking at him in disdain.

"Oh, that is fun," Robin says as she swallows her second bite of cake, "let's see if she can say Ro-" She abruptly stops when she feels something weird going on in her stomach. A light fluttering – butterflies maybe? It's like popcorn, she realizes, as if it was popping inside of her.

"Whoa," she exclaims, drawing everyone's attention.

"What's wrong?" Barney turns around to look at the startled expression on his wife's face.

"Uh, I feel popcorn."

"Yeah, man, I feel like popcorn too." Marshall says. "I think we have some in the kitchen."

"No, it's like popcorn is popping in my stomach." Robin clarifies, and Barney's eyes grow wide.

Lily enters the living room, cleaning whipped cream off of Daisy's dress. "What's going on?" She chimes in, noticing Barney's panicked face.

"SHE FEELS _POPCORN_!" Barney hysterically screams. "Should we go to the ER? We should go to the ER. TED, CALL 911. No, I'm taking you. Let's go." He takes Robin's hand and gets up the couch, but Robin doesn't move and pulls him back down instead.

"Aw, I think Robin just felt the baby moving." Lily says excitedly.

"HAVE YOU COMPLETELY MISSED THE PART WHERE SHE SAID IT WAS POPCORN? NOT BABY, POPCORN! POPCORN, LILY!"

"Oh my God, you guys, it's not popcorn!" Ted intervenes, and Barney just stares off into the distance, ignoring him. "Did we eat corn?" He wonders out loud.

"It's not?" Robin looks up. "I mean," she giggles uncomfortably, "I know it's not _actual_ popcorn, but…" She looks at her stomach, tentatively resting her hand on top of it. "It doesn't feel like kicks."

"That's just because the baby is too small, so it just kind of swims around. It felt weird to me too." Tracy reassures her.

"Wait," Barney says as he regains his composure. "The baby's moving?"

Robin shrugs in confusion. "I guess so?"

He puts his hand on her stomach and immediately starts smiling, feeling the faintest thump under his palm. "Oh my God, babe, our baby's moving!"

In a matter of seconds five more hands – Marvin's included – are on her belly, trying to catch any sign of movement, and Robin cringes as everyone starts talking over each other.

"Do you feel it?"

"I can't feel anything."

"That's because her uterus is not there, Marshall."

"Why don't you show me _your_ uterus, Ted?!"

"Maybe if you ate some more cake?"

"Or some cheese?"

"Aunt Robin, maybe you just have to poop."

"OH MY GOD EVERYONE, TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME, NOW!" Robin yells, and all five hands retreat at the same time, everyone guiltily staring at her. Robin exhales. "I'm not a Touch Tour at the freaking MoMA."

With his hand still comfortably resting on Robin's stomach, Barney smugly looks up at the others. "Yeah, be cool, guys. You scared the baby off."

He keeps poking her belly for the rest of the evening – and at some point Robin slaps away his hand, too – but the baby doesn't move again until later that night, when Robin takes a shower and notices the baby's reacting to the warm water running on her skin. Barney's so excited by this he won't let her get out the shower, amused by the way her stomach slightly moves when the gentle water stream hits different spots. When they finally get to bed, the baby going crazy as she lies on her side, it feels new. For the first time, it's not just the two of them anymore.


	4. Chapter 4

When they find out it's a girl, Robin's head starts spinning. Her mind gets clouded with memories of her childhood and her father, haunting trips and forbidden dresses. She keeps it together through most of their little celebration with the gang, but at some point she just needs to take Barney and go home. It shouldn't matter, Robin knows that. She knows that history is not going to repeat itself, that all the pain she endured as a kid would never, not in a million years, be inflicted on her own child. But she has got no role models, no experience of a healthy childhood. She figured she could handle a boy, because that's how her father had raised her, and as wrong and twisted as it was, that was all she knew. A girl, on the other hand – sometimes she feels like she doesn't even know how to be one herself, and now she is supposed to raise one, to make all the right choices for her, and it's terrifying.

She desperately wants to sleep, hoping the night would just put these thoughts behind her, but the baby keeps moving and moving and moving, and Robin can't find the right position, and her head is exploding. Hugging her pillow closer to herself, she snuggles closer to Barney, her protruding belly touching his hip. She watches his peaceful sleeping face and thinks about how everyone was surprised to find out he had not had a strong, negative reaction to the news. They thought he would freak out, maybe blame the universe for getting back at him for his past, but Barney had been calm, cheerful, offering everyone celebratory drinks. It made her feel guiltier.

"Please, just go to sleep," she begs, looking at her stomach, "I just really want to sleep, okay?"

"Robin?" Barney groggily asks, his half-open eyes staring at her. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," she lightly shakes her head. "Yeah, it's fine." She sighs. "The baby just won't go to sleep."

"Is she moving?" shifting closer to her, he puts his hand on her stomach, his face lightening up as he starts feeling the little thumps. It's weird, Robin thinks, how all of a sudden the baby has become a she.

"Barney?" she asks after a few moments. "Do you think we'll be okay?"

He frowns, looking at her. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, this baby…" she avoids meeting his eyes. "She'll be fine, right? With us?"

"Please," he scoffs.

"No, I'm being serious! I mean, we're having a girl, for God's sake."

"So?"

"So, I was raised as a_ boy. _I couldn't wear dresses, and for my eighth birthday, my dad gave me a dead animal, Barney. A rabbit. And you know what he said to me? He said: "RJ, this year, you're going to learn how to do this by yourself". And then I got so good at it that for my ninth birthday, he gave me a rifle. A fucking rifle!"

"Are you sure that's not just how you do it in Canada?" Barney scrunches his nose, and Robin ignores him.

"And you want to know the best part? I would've done anything for him. I just wanted him to be proud of me. How messed up is that?" her tone is borderline hysteric, and when her eyes meet Barney's, he pulls her in for a hug. "I'm sorry," she sobs, "I think it's the pregnancy hormones."

Barney chuckles. "Yeah, that must be it."

"I just-I don't know how to do this, I'm scared that somehow-somehow I'm just gonna mess her up. And I don't understand how you can be so calm, why are you so calm, Barney?" she sniffs as she lets go of him just enough to face him. "I mean, everyone was just waiting for you to explode."

"Why?" he grimaces, as if it were the most outrageous thing one could think.

"Because you tricked over 250 women into sleeping with you?"

"Oh, that." He seems amused. "No, I'm fine."

"You are?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be? No one is ever going to trick her into sleeping with anyone, because a) I am going to teach her everything she needs to know on how to outsmart boys – I call this The Inverse Playbook, by the way, for future reference. And b)..."

"Wait, you're planning on telling her your plays?" Robin interrupts him.

"And how to avoid them, yeah."

"Yeah, you're not teaching her any of that."

"But-"

"Promise me she won't ever even hear the word playbook, Barney."

"But... it's for defense purposes!" He whines.

"Doesn't make it less gross."

"Uh, yeah it does."

"Uh, no it doesn't," she mocks him. "Those plays are creepy and sleazy and to be completely honest, it's time you knew no one else in the world would use them."

Barney gasps. "You take that back!"

Robin rolls her eyes. "No," she says flatly.

"I'll have you know those plays saved a lot of men's lives, Robin. In Finland, they call me 'The Savior'."

"No one calls you the savior."

"They cry out my name, hoping to be rescued from their mediocre lives. Bunch of Teds, in Finland."

"No one cries out your name, Barney."

"You cry out my name all the time," he smirks. "But anyway, since you don't believe in my powerful international influence, you don't get to hear point b."

"Point b?"

"Yeah, my whole speech, I had a point B."

"What was it?"

"Nope, I'm not telling you."

"Aw, come on," she nudges him with her whole body, her bump pressing against his stomach. The baby's still flipping around or doing somersaults or whatever it is that she likes to do at 3AM, and Barney can feel the movement against his skin. "See?" Robin tells him. "Seems like I'm not the only one who wants to know."

"Okay, fine," he gives in almost immediately, and Robin smiles because their daughter has already got power over him. "B)," he finally continues, "no one is going to trick her into doing anything ever, because she's our daughter, and she will be incredible, and smart, and nothing short of awesome. And I don't mean regular awesome, I mean off the charts awesome, Cobra Kai Dojo awesome, HYDRA awesome..."

"Okay, Barney, I get it." She laughs.

"No, but really," his voice softens as he brings her closer to him, virtually speaking in her hair. "I'm glad it's a girl. I was kinda hoping for it, anyway."

"Really? Don't you want a little guy you can bro out with?"

Barney raises an eyebrow. "Are you kidding? Robin, come on. You know my best bro is a girl."

When she falls asleep a little while later, the baby finally calmer inside of her, she's still worrying about the future, still wondering about how good of a mother she could possibly be. But Barney wants this baby girl with all his heart, and that makes things easier. Because her father never wanted her in the first place – never really acknowledged her as a daughter. But this baby – their baby? Robin knows she will never have to deal with something like that. And it feels nice, she thinks, knowing at least one parent won't mess her up, Inverse Playbook aside.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I found this while browsing through some of my old documents, I barely remember why I wrote it at the time, but I thought it could fit here. To be honest I'm trying to postpone my next chapter because it's kind of heavy and I'm still not sure about some of it, so this is what you get while I try to make up my mind. By the way, thanks for reading and reviewing, you guys are more than just awe-some, you're awwwe-quite-a-bit, awwwe-a-whole-darn-lot, and I truly appreciate it ;)**

* * *

"How far along are you?" a girl asks her with a smile. Both of her hands lie on her flat stomach as her prying eyes glance at Robin's belly.

"Six months," Robin forces a smile before returning to flip through her magazine. She doesn't want to be rude, but she's always felt uncomfortable socializing in her OBGYN's waiting room.

"This is my first sonogram," the girl continues, excitedly. "I can't wait to hear his heart," she takes a moment to stroke her, still flat, stomach. "I just know it's a boy, I've even painted the nursery a light shade of blue." Robin could swear actual hearts start forming in the girl's eyes. She keeps smiling her fake smile and starts nudging Barney, who fell in a comatose state as soon as they entered the room.

_Stop zoning out and help me get rid of this freak!_ She telepathically tells him.

_Sorry, I think I was asleep. This place never fails to suck, does it. What's her name?_

"I'm Trish, by the way. And this is George," she lovingly glances down at her belly. "You know," she leans over towards Robin, "like the prince."

"Oh God," Robin can't help but saying under her breath.

"Hi," Barney's voice is confident as he holds out his hand. "I'm Barney." His smile is captivating and Robin notices Trish is blushing. Of course.

"Hey, hi," Trish giggles. "Are you guys together?"

Barney furtively looks around the empty room. "Can you keep a secret, Trish? You seem like a smart girl. Are you smart, Trish?"

"Yes, yes, of course!" she nods. "We can keep a secret, right, Georgie?"

Barney and Robin share a look. This is going to be easy. "You need to get out of here, right now." Barney's tone is dead serious as he leans towards Trish. "For Georgie."

"What is he talking about?" Trish questioningly looks at Robin. She steps in.

"Yeah, you see, this?" She gestures towards her bump. "All fake."

"We're undercover inspectors. Your doctor?" Barney nods towards the door, and starts whispering. "A maniac."

Trish's eyes widen. "Oh my God."

"He takes videos, you know." Robin continues. "And then he shares them online."

"On _MySpace_," Barney adds after a pause.

"On MySpace?! I won't let my Georgie be on MySpace! That's _so_ 2000s." She gets up, hand still firmly on her stomach. "Thank you guys, so much! Let's get out of here Georgie!"

She storms out of the room as two confused new couples sit down in four of the empty chairs.

"Heard that?" Barney leans towards Robin's stomach. "That was your awesome parents nailing it."

Robin chuckles, and then the room grows quiet. She's thankful the new couples seem to keep to themselves, and as much as she doesn't mean to stare, she finds herself mindlessly observing them.

The two women are both heavily pregnant – she guesses more than she is – one of them is quietly chatting with her husband, the other one is just browsing through her phone. What catches Robin's attention, though, is the way both of them keep stroking their protruding belly, as if no matter what they're doing, _that_ is their main thought. She frowns, looking at her own stomach.

"Barney," she whispers. "Barney."

"Yeah."

"It's been five minutes and those two women haven't stopped touching their belly _for a second_. I don't do that!"

"Yeah, so?"

"So, don't you think it's weird? I should do that, right?"

"Why _should_ you?"

"Because!" she hisses, "what if Trish the freak is normal and I am not. What if you're _supposed_ to stroke your stomach and call your fetus by name and have some kind of deep connection with it, uh? Let's just think about that."

"Okay, Robin, you're freaking out," Barney chuckles. "Just calm down, you're going to be fine, and Trish is probably having a girl and naming her _George_."

Robin considers his words. "I do hope George's a girl," she finally concedes, and that seems to settle it.

* * *

When Barney walks into their bedroom after taking a shower that night, he finds Robin sitting legs crossed on their bed, her hands awkwardly placed on her stomach. He stops, looking at her, and frowns as a little smirk starts growing on his face. She doesn't even have to look at him to know what he's doing.

"Shut up," her eyes shoot up for just a second before going back to focus on her belly. "I'm trying this thing, okay?"

"Okay," he moves to sit next to her. "What is it exactly that you're doing?"

"Uh, isn't it obvious? I'm trying to establish a connection with our unborn child." She starts moving her hands around, trying to find the right rhythm. Barney looks at her in amusement.

"This," he gestures to her hands, "what you're doing right now... It just feels so natural."

Robin shoots him a dirty look. "Oh, you think it's easy? You try it!"

"Please. I touch your belly all the time."

"No you don't!" she counters, and Barney admonishes her with his eyes. "All right," she admits, "I guess you do touch it."

"All the time."

"All the time." She sighs. "It's just, I know I'm not the touchy-feeliest person on earth, but I do want to do this right."

"You're doing it your way, and that's fine. I'm sure _she _is very happy."

"Okay, but would she be happier if I did, I don't know, this?" she dramatically strokes her stomach, and then flinches. Barney frowns. "What?"

"Well, okay, she kicked me in the bladder. I'm guessing _that_ was a no."

Barney laughs and gives her a light kiss before slipping under the covers. "Careful, you've got some competition there, Robin. I'm thinking she's not the touchy-feeliest person on earth, either."

Robin can live with that.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Robin's thought process here was really difficult to figure out and write, so I hope it doesn't feel too messy and all over the place. This chapter is also kind of a turning point in this fic, so the next ones (don't know how many, but definitely not a lot), will have a different tone to them, or at least that's what I'm planning (haven't written them yet!). Anyway, thanks for reading and again, thanks for all the reviews you guys left :)**

* * *

Her boss's door closes behind her with a soft thump, and Robin's left alone in the big, gray hallway. She can feel her nails digging into her palms as she clenches her fists, the words of her most recent conversation still resounding in her ears. "We thought it would be best to send Kelly from the 2PM news to Moscow," he told her, his gaze falling on her bulging stomach. "You know you were our first pick, Robin, but it didn't seem convenient given your...condition." He smiled at her, and Robin felt bile rising inside of her. Moscow was a big project WWN had been working on for the past year, and as it required a foreign correspondent for up to two months, she had devoted most of her time off air to ensuring she was going to be the one getting the job. Injustice and betrayal were the first words that popped into her head, but now, as she walks down the hallway, blood pounding in her ears, she hates to admit her boss really had no other choice. Because this thing – this _condition_ she had found herself in – could not be escaped. She feels heavier somehow, as if noticing the added pregnancy weight for the first time, and she wishes her stomach could be some mere, detachable thing she could get away from whenever she needed to. She hates herself for how disillusioned she had been up until that moment, because how could she ever think all of her plans were not being put on hold by this? How could she think, even for a second, that she would be able to travel and be a foreign correspondent with a baby growing inside of her?

She needs to get out of the WWN building and get some fresh air, so she gathers her bag and her jacket from her office, brushing off a chirpy Patrice as she heads for the elevator. She doesn't hail a cab, and ignores her aching feet as she walks home, her high heels and her bump probably not the perfect combination.

Barney's on his laptop at the kitchen counter when she steps through the door, slightly panting as sweat traces her forehead. He looks startled for a second before jumping off his stool and closing the distance between them, his eyes suddenly worried.

"Robin," he puts his hand on the back of her neck, his glance moving from her face to her stomach. "Are you okay?"

"Kelly from the 2PM news is going to Moscow," she says flatly and moves away from him, throwing her bag on the couch and running a hand through her hair. She heads for the scotch on the counter, picking up a glass.

Barney takes one step forward. "What are you doing?"

"Don't worry," she answers as she pours herself a drink, not turning around to face him. "I'm not going to drink it."

"Okay," his voice is cautious, uncertain. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"I told you," she shrugs as she takes her glass full of scotch and sits on the couch. "Kelly got the job." She smells her drink, takes it all in. "God, this smells fantastic."

"The foreign correspondent job?" Barney stands slightly away from her, hands in his pockets. "Wasn't that supposed to start next month? I thought you figured you couldn't go."

Robin lets out a bitter laugh. "Why, because of my _condition_?"

"Well, yeah, Robin, because of your _condition_, or as _I_ like to put it, because you're seven months pregnant with our child and you're supposed to take it easy, so planes and going to Russia for two months? Not exactly the best option." He pauses, noticing her heavy breathing. "Also _not_ in the best option category: walking all the way here from your office. What's up with that?"

"I just needed to get some air, that's all. I'm fine."

"You don't look fine to me."

Robin looks up from her glass, her eyes meeting his. "Do you know how much work I've put into this, Barney?"

"Yeah, I do, I told you to go for it, but -"

"Do you think this is fair?" she cuts him short, her voice raising. "I've busted my ass for years and years, I've worked terrible hours and got treated like shit, hell at some point I was literally _covered_ in shit," Barney can't help but letting out a small chuckle, but Robin shoots him a murderous look. "And for what?! This-this was all I ever wanted. And now it's gone."

"Look, it's just temporary," Barney tries to reassure her. "Once the baby's born..."

"Then what? What's going to happen then? We're going to go to Russia and I'm going to go on camera with a nursing baby strapped to my chest? Is that how these things work, Barney?"

"No, but we're Stinsons," he shrugs, "we're going to find a way."

"BUT I SHOULDN'T NEED TO FIND A WAY!" She exhales. "This was a problem I was not supposed to have."

Barney's whole body tenses as he looks down at his shoes. "Don't do this, Robin." He says quietly.

"Why?" She attacks him, despite her inner voice is telling her not to. "Because you don't want to hear the truth?"

"No, because I don't want you to regret telling it."

"And how could I? This isn't news, Barney! I've been saying it all my life, kids were _never_ a part of my plan. Kids hold you back! And how ironic is it that now, right when I could finally get what I've always wanted, I actually got held b-"

"STOP!" Barney explodes, startling her, and his eyes are dark with anger. "For Christ's sake, just-just stop, okay?" He takes a breath, rubbing his temples. "I'm not letting you blame our baby for your problems, Robin."

"I'm not blaming the baby," she answers, quietly. "I'm blaming myself."

"Good," he grabs his suit jacket from the back of a chair. "Then I guess you're not as selfish as I thought you were." he says, and his tone is so detached she knows he doesn't mean it. "Now if you'll excuse me, _I _need to get some air."

Suit jacket in one hand, Robin watches him as he turns his back to her and walks out the door without so much as a goodbye. Deep down, she knows her reaction isn't fair to either of them or the baby, and most importantly, what happened is nobody's fault. But she's still angry and apparently, blaming someone – or herself – is the easiest thing she can do, together with reverting back to her old self, to a time when she was one hundred percent certain of what she wanted in life. Because being twenty-four and caring about nothing but her career was simple, but being thirty-five and wanting both a career and a family? That felt suffocating.

She gets up from the couch, feeling tired and empty. Something's missing, she thinks, even though she can't pinpoint exactly what it is. She brushes the thought off her head and heads for the bedroom, climbing on the bed and lying on her side before finally closing her eyes. Tiredness wins over her anger and her guilt, and as she wonders when Barney's going to come home, she finally drifts into sleep.

* * *

She wakes up in the middle of the night and suddenly, she knows what's wrong. As she lies still on her side, there's definitely one thing that's missing: the baby isn't moving, and Robin realizes she can't remember the last time she felt her kicking. She tries applying pressure to her stomach, knowing full well how that usually makes her start kicking, either in excitement or in protest for the intrusion. When nothing happens she gets up and heads for the kitchen, grabbing the first sugary treat she can find, devouring it in the hope of achieving some kind of reaction. It's pecan pie leftovers and she knows it's the baby's favorite: when she ate it at Loretta's a few days before, the baby started kicking so hard they could actually see her movements under her skin. It was kind of creepy but really cool, and they called dibs on the leftovers so they could try it at home. It ended up being a fun game for the three of them, especially since she got to eat all the pie while Barney got kicked in the face several times by his own child. But as she waits for those same strong kicks to hit her hand, her stomach stays still, and the only thing she can feel is her own heart, pounding in her chest at twice its normal speed.

She's shaking as she dials Barney's number, and she thanks God when he answers without even letting it ring.

"Robin."

"B-Barney, I, the baby is not..." her voice breaks, and in that exact moment Barney bursts in from the door, phone in one hand, quickly closing the space between them.

"Are you okay?" he asks.

"W-what, w-where were you?"

"Across the hall, told the neighbors Ryan Gosling needed their apartment for the night, whatever, no big deal, is everything okay?"

"No, it's not. I can't feel the baby moving."

He freezes for a second, terror flashing his eyes. "What, have-have you tried with pie?"

"Yeah, I did, it-it didn't work. Look, we need to go."

"What about pressing on the side…"

"Barney, I know my daughter okay?" she says, almost breathless, and it's something that she never realized before. "I know her and she's not moving, so can we please…"

"Yeah," Barney nods, "yeah, let's go."

She leans into him as they ride in the back of a cab two minutes later, and he hugs her closer, sliding his left hand down her stomach and applying the slightest pressure on her skin as he vainly tries to stimulate the baby. With her face buried in the crook of his neck, she whispers that she's sorry, over and over again, until there's a big, wet patch on his shirt and she has no more tears to shed. He kisses her hair, telling her that it's not her fault, that everything's going to be alright, but he can't know for sure and neither can she, and she's left thinking of snow and a lonely bench in Central Park and she knows, right in that moment, that she doesn't want to lose this future again.

When Barney doesn't let go of her hand as the nurse preps her up for a sonogram, she remembers the first time they found themselves in this position. She remembers how surreal it was to hear those first heartbeats, and all the times that came after that, and she longs to hear that sound again.

And when it happens, when the rhythmic thumping fills the room, she doesn't think about her job, or Moscow or anything else. She's not twenty-four anymore, and if her life has thought her something, it's that things don't always go the way you planned them. And that's a good thing. Because 35-year-old Robin Scherbatsky is going to have so much more than she planned, and career versus family is a played out concept anyway. She's allowed to want both things, to have both things.

Barney whispers a "thank god" and kisses her hand, and when her watery eyes meet his, he gives her the smallest nod and a smile. She smiles back.

* * *

Her bump proudly peeks out of her white suit jacket as her heels click on the Time Warner Center's gleaming floor, and she feels confident as she notices a few heads turn her way. She's kind of used to it – she is, after all, a well-known news anchor – but this feels different. There's a different vibe to her and who knows, she thinks, maybe pregnancy really does make you glow.

She gets her pass at the entrance and heads for the CNN studios, smirking at a couple of middle-aged men eying her bump. "Gentlemen," she says as the elevator's doors open, and she steps in.

As the doors close before her, she looks down at her baby bump and smiles.

"You and I are going to rock this interview."

And they do.


End file.
